Napoleon's Birds
by ElesaryAyres
Summary: Conrad and Neomi's life is going really well. At least it was until they get some unsettling news from Nix and have to deal with the consequences. Lothaire and Ellie are fighting in a bad way, Myst is feeling very pregnant and Sebastien is searching for Furie. Declan and Reagan are trying to kill Chloe's dad, but Lore-kind is still howling for his blood.


Neomi

Wednesday, January 8

10:07 AM

Music flowed from the hidden speakers, sweeping me up in its passion and beauty and rhythm. I danced across the studio Conrad had spent months building, painting and perfecting. It was the best gift anyone could have given me. Every morning I lost myself in my dancing for a few hours before meeting friends or paying bills or any number of activities I enjoyed spending my hours without Conrad doing.

The phone rang, shattering the dream-like quality of the room. I uttered a French curse word and jogged to the phone. "Hello?"

"Neomi? Neomi Laress?" a peculiar and frantic voice sounded on the other end. Nix.

"Hello, Nix, its nice to hear from you, its Wroth now, actually."

"That's nice, dear, but if you don't want to end up dead you'll come to the manor five minutes ago." The line went dead before I could question her.

For my part, it never crossed my mind that she was wrong, I had never heard of a time she had been completely wrong, so it was easy for me to believe her now. I left the studio and hurriedly scratched out a note to Conrad telling him where I was. This worried me a little because he was always on the edge of madness and I seemed to be the only anchoring him to sanity. I had no idea how he would react to my absence when he awoke in the evening, unless I was home before then.

Since I didn't know why Nix had summoned me, I turned incorporeal for the trip over to the manor.

I arrived to chaos, which was expected at this particular house, but it seemed more pronounced. "Come on in, Cara said as she threw a lock of her hair into the mass of wraiths.

"Hello," I said. I had always been slightly intimidated by most of the valkeries, especially Cara. But I was mostly picking up on her distaste for my husband, I was used to people being scared of him, but it never failed to bother me.

Kaderin, Myst and Daniela were waiting for me inside, all looking as confused as I felt. Myst had one hand pressed against her lightly bulging belly as if protecting her child. "What's going on?" I asked.

"We don't know," Daniela said, looking anxiously up the stairs. "Nix isn't lucid anymore, but we can't leave. It's really important that we hear what she has to say."

I sighed, and thought fleetingly of the note resting on the bedside table. "Conrad won't be pleased." Kaderin looked fleetingly perturbed by that and sidled closer to Myst. I glared at her.

"None of them will be pleased." Daniela said, shooting her sister a quelling glance.

The valkerie soon settled back into their old homes with aplomb, joining the hordes of wii players and popcorn throwers without having to worry about their husbands going on a rampage or cryptic warnings from Nix. I supposed they were used to her by now, but I still wasn't.

I thought about turning phantom and leaving, but soon disregarded that idea because Nix had sounded pretty worried and I wouldn't be able to pass the wraiths anyway. Instead, I parked myself on a couch and pulled a cushion over my lap, worrying the threads with my fingertips as I watched the chaos and waited for the sun to begin to set.

After it had, it didn't take long for Nix to start screaming from upstairs. Regin swore and climbed the stairs to see what was wrong.

"They're coming!" Nix shrieked, lightening forking the lawn. Kaderin glanced out the window.

"It's only Sebastian and his brother!" she hollered back.

"NO VAMPIRES!" Nix sounded so distraught and terrified that no one even considered defying her.

I walked out the door and told them from the porch what was going wrong. I didn't like the color Conrad's eyes turned when I told him I couldn't let them in.

They waited for a few hours, pacing restlessly as Nix babbled incoherently in the background. "Neomi!" she called suddenly. "Daniela! Kaderin! Myst! Why aren't you husbands here?"

We peered over at her. She sat on the top of a bookshelf, eyes clear, head tilted quizzically. "You wouldn't let them in, Nix." Kaderin said tiredly.

"Nonsense!" Nix cried, leaping down from her perch and tossing a lock of hair at me. "Would you let them in, darling?"

I walked outside and threw Nix's hair at the wraiths. "Nix is back," I told the brothers as Conrad pulled me into his arms buried his head in my neck. I twined my fingers through his hair and kissed him long enough to make my knees weak, his tongue dominating mine.

"Quit canoodling and get in here!" Nix shrieked, lightening splitting the sky above us.

Conrad hissed angrily but dragged my up the steps, plastered to his body by his arm. Nix eyed us curiously as we came in. "Please sit," she gestured elegantly to the other couples uncomfortably squeezed on one couch. "I am sure you all wondering why I have brought you here today." Her voice sounded more dramatic than usual, but Nix had always had a flair for drama and battiness.

We stayed silent and waited for her to continue, she harrumphed when we didn't reply, but was too excited by her news to wait. She rubbed her palms together and got a wicked gleam in her eye, which really made me nervous. Conrad rested his palm on my knee, which settled my nerves.

"What is it, Nix?" Kaderin snapped as the silence grew.

Nix sniffed, "Well, if you're going to be snippy about it…"

"NIX!" Myst wailed, hormones making her (more) emotional.

"Fine, fine, keep your panties on. A group of real vampires is trying to kill all Forbeares and their Brides," she pointed at Myst "And especially you, because he-" she shifted her finger to Nikolai "knocked you up."

An uproar rose up instantly. Conrad wrapped me in his arms protectively, even though I was probably the safest f everyone considering I could turn intangible whenever I wanted.

But there was no more use in questioning Nix, her eyes had gone vacant again. "What are you guys doing in my house?"


End file.
